Clinging to Shadows.

which is more real, the image borne in the mind or the heavy stone of the mountains perduring in space? But the stone has no awareness. Everything that does or might have awareness in nature is short lived–except perhaps for the Whitebark and its fellows.

I wonder if we’re tasked to give consciousness to all this beauty that would otherwise go unknown. Our images, our memories, that are living but passing, give a perhaps tragic context to these scenes that are completely unaware of the concerns and understanding we bring. This is our gift to nature–we bring it into fuller awareness. And nature brings us back to this task. There is reciprocity, even communion between us. I take comfort in this. I think it points to an ‘all’s well’ in the universe.

We circle the mountain that always keeps a hidden face.

“I wonder if we’re tasked to give consciousness to all this beauty that would otherwise go unknown.”

I wonder the same.  And I can see the reciprocity.  Well spoken friend.

“This is our gift to nature–we bring it into fuller awareness. And nature brings us back to this task.”

Or perhaps we inculcate that awareness in the generations that follow in our footsteps, hopefully leading over time to a restoration of the intimate connection between mankind and the natural world that existed before the dawn of civilization?

Like most human beings I developed a pretty clear sense of object permanence around the age of 2.  And yet I still remain somewhat baffled- and thrilled- that as I write this there are brook trout swimming in some of my favorite alpine lakes.  That I get to experience it all is truly a miracle of sorts.  Considering the scope of possible human experiences/realities, it’s not lost on me that I’m very, very fortunate to be able to peacefully wander in the woods without a care.  And yet it’s bittersweet because I’m all too aware that it’s both a temporal experience as well as one that many people will never get to have.